2387/TCOS: Konigin

TCOS: Konigin
Date of Scene:	06 March 2025
Location:	Edo Castle Ruins
Synopsis:	The heroes show up to attempt to seal the final jewel, the Sapphire! It all goes wrong though, when instead of facing the Queen, Prinzessin Nichts immediately shatters her and absorbs the Sapphire! An intense battle ensues, ending with Konigsende unleashing its namesake spell, erasing Tokyo!
Cast of Characters:	Aloisia Stauss, Rashmi Terios, Takuto Tsunashi, Amanda Faust, Yuki Hoshino, Sugata Shindo, Veronica Perenna, Catra
Tinyplot:	The Crown of Succession

---

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
In the history ruins of Edo castle, a new statue had appeared. One that was wholly out of place, that being a young woman bearing two massive shields. Unlike the other statues, this one had appeared smack dab in the middle of town, strangely enough... it had likely been located earlier, but due to the way it worked, handling it early simply Didn't Work.

Recent snowfall had left the castle looking especially idyllic, the ground covered in a light layer of powdery white snow that just seemed to make the massive sapphire contained within one of the two shields glisten alongside the snow.

Something about today has caused the air to be strangely charged with energy though, as if something were about to happen, and the normally-busy castle was strangely empty, as if something were driving visitors away on this particular day. Still, the signature of the impending activation was pinging those who had examined the other gemstones, drawing their attention to this location, which was likely the cause of the turned away visitors, that sense that Something Is About To Happen palpable.

But for now, the statue stands, holding her twin sisters by her side, awaiting her visitors, and the final battle to determine who truly deserves to be the ruler of House Steiner.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
While Rashmi has felt *extremely bad* about asking Chrono to join the last couple fights... between herself being shattered with grief, and then Nicomachea being temporarily a pile of parts in need of a really tiny n-dimensional allen wrench, there was just no way she was going to provide any meaningful assistance.

Things have changed, now; her world had been rocked in a different direction, since, and her Device is put together and fully ready for action. And just in time, too, for the signals emanating from Toshima Ward over the last few hours have grown more and more concerning. And at around lunchtime, Rashmi made the executive decision to just... hop off the school roof, henshin, and go find out what was about to happen.

And she is *extremely* glad she did, for the moment she spotted the source of the emanation, and saw the *twin shields* held in its hands, she had a sinking feeling. Either this was going to be a battle with a copy of ALoisia, which would be painful, or it would be a battle against Doppelwand's *original* wielder, which would probably be absolutely brutal. Heaving a deep, heartfelt sigh, she simply hung in the air over the castle, watching and waiting.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
There's a rocketing nyoom sound and some wind and then a spiky-red-haired CLAMP noodle in a very fancy white military coat and thigh-high boots comes to hover next to Rashmi, comet trail stopped under his feet for now. "Hey," says Takuto, cracking his knuckles. "You think we should start out in super mode for this one?"

Never Mind Why He Wasn't In School.

His face is very pink and his hair is damp and his boyfriend has an onsen at his house. Never Mind.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The enemy (Amy will count this ancient Belkan ritual as an enemy) is attacking a historical landmark again? Like when the Midnight Tokyo project attacked that shrine... or used the shrine as a hostage, rather.

    Amy's an American so no doubt it just doesn't matter as much to her but this is clearly a historical site, she is glad Rashmi's here to put up a barrier!

    "Is there any downside to your super mode?" Amy asks, from the ground. She demonstratively summons a pillar of fire over her henshin, which leaves her in a different costume with more armor bits. "For me it's just a costume to hold the thrusters, but actually flying burns magic fast."

    "...Is that statue of Aloisia? It has two shields..."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki was skipping class. She'd *finally* gotten the new parts she'd found to integrate with her spell programming, and Argent Dawn was in need of a test run to work in the new parts and programs. So she ducked out to head up to the roof of the school building, henshin, and take flight.

Translucent black dragonfly-wings flickering with magic behind her, she soars over the city, doing a few basic maneuvers before starting a speed run that ends her near Edo Castle. She's a little faster than she used to be, maneuvering a little more smoothly. Something is definitely working out.

But now it looks like she's going to get more than a basic test run in. An animated statue? And some other mahou gathering to look into it? Well, she's just got to poke her nose in. She soars over to join the small crowd (three *is* a crowd, they say!) and greet them.

"Wait, that golem looks familiar..."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
The Ginga Kingu is rocketing alongside Takuto, though his flight is more akin to skating across hair in long strides than the effortless, stylish soaring that Takuto manages.

He settles in the air beside Takuto and Rashmi, cocking his head at the sight of the statues, and yes, very intrigued by the though of continuing to test his skill in combat against a worthy opponent - or, protecting a historic building from what is undoubtedly going to be a tremendous threat, that's also what he's doing, yep -

"Primarily that there's a real chance that I'll be mistaken for a supervillain," he says dryly, and then nods to Takuto. "You do it. If it turns out I regret not upping when you did, you'll have the right to laugh at me."

As if he wouldn't do that anyway.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Now that Veronica is finally free from the curse, she is trying to get back in touch with the current events, and among those, she is starting out with Aloisia, because Himari had confirmed with her that she was still Prinzessin Nichts during a fight with the statue of a Bishop.

Her day had been particularly busy, what with telling everyone she was fine, showing her face to the school administration (which in all likelihood was made easier by Inai-sensei and Nurse Meiou), and spending some time appeasing Emery now that she is back to normal.

She then transformed into the Princess of Sarek, still keeping the aesthetic with choker, cat ears and tail thanks to her powers, and got to to looking for similar statues as soon as that was done, and her search led her all the way over to the Toshima District, at the historical Edo Castle. A fascinating subject its history, although probably not relevant to the current situation.

Finding where to go took some guesswork since she had never come into contact with a gemstone, but the air brimming with energy did make it easier on her to narrow down the source. Is that statue supposed to move then?

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
The assumption that it was, perhaps, a battle against Doppelwand's original wielder isn't necessarily a bad assumption, as the statue looked more mature than Aloisia, slightly taller, slightly more regal. But, no, the original wielder of Doppelwand was not a single individual, and the statue is very recognizable as Aloisia Stauss. Or at least, some version of her, likely presumably a version of her, should she become Queen. The approach of one bearing ~TWO~ of the jewels causes an almost immediate, if slow reaction. Cracks beginning to form in that statue, the soft crackle of plasma beginning to grow in the area as the Knight of Trial begins its awakening, the sapphire gleaming brightly in that shield.

Pieces of statue falling, slowly revealing flesh, and a friendly, yet confident smile upon her lips as warm, violet eyes turn towards Rashmi Terios.

As if Acknowledging her.

But she has not fully awakened. The Trial has not yet begun.

<<Mein freund. Why do you hover so far away?>>

...She's speaking? Before the Trial is active?

<<This is a friendly trial. One meant to test one's worth, and I already know of yours. The Meister who restored mein dear schwester. The King who fights for justice and his partner. The Red Rocket Girl who has been there every step of the way, from our first arrival to this planet. Two I do not recognize as well, but are no doubt steadfast allies nonetheless.>>

Friendly confusion, she evidently doesn't know of the Corruption of the trial.

<<Do not fear. Failure or success. The trial bearer shall survive.>>

Another crack falls from the statue, as the shields begin to free themselves.

<<Though none who take this trial come out exactly the same, and I suppose in some way, that can be a form of loss.>>

An arm grows free, hand held out welcomingly towards those hovering above.

<<I represent the Queen. I represent the Hope that-->>

<Splitterpunkt.>>

That is the only warning as the glowing tip of Konigsende can suddenly be seen through the center of the Queen's chest. Cracks in the statue suddenly becoming cracks throughout her entire form.

<<What? ... Why... this is... not...>>

<<INTEGRIEREN.>>

The sapphire is not given a chance to be made free, as it is simply... absorbed by Konigsende. And as the statue of Aloisia Stauss crumbles, becoming little more than dust before them, instead stands Prinzessin Nichts. Konigsende having melded with her arm, rather than being a held weapon now, twisted flesh and metal joined together, as the steady beating of Aloisia's heart can be heard in the background.

And what speaks, after the integration, is a twisted version of Aloisia's voice, instead of the Device.

"Gefangnis des Endes."

And a Barrier is put up. A disruptive one. Crackling with darkness and Nothingness that tears and sucks at ones' very being.

And more impotantly?

There is no escape this time.
This ends here.
One way or another.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

<< It's good to see everyone, >> she says, as the communications spell reaches out to enfold every known ally within the District. Hovering in the air, her Barrier Jacket and Device are quite different in appearance; Nicomachea is now larger, with a double-hinged latching cover, and the Barrier Jacket has taken on a bit more of a professional, military cut, with angular puldrons vaguely resembling epaulets.

The surprise on her face is palpable as the Queen begins to speak, and *just* as she opens her mouth to reply...

'Splitterpunkt'

<< ...I really think that it'd be a good idea to treat this like an endurance fight, >> she says in reply to Takuto's question. << This is gonna be a *rough* one, everyone. Don't get hit if you possibly can. >>

Seeing that the Belkan barrier isn't filtering out suddenly-panicking civilians, she decides to double up on the civil protection of the fight.

    << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

Where before Rashmi's Barrier was the green-black staticky field of the standard Midchildan configuration, this Barrier is now much more yellow than green, and battles the darkness with its very existence. << We're not gonna get the chance to escape, everyone... Fight like you mean it. >>

Catra has posed:
Being a Princess absolutely

sucks

Catra has been learning the hard way that Glimmer's advice about how to use the Spirit Ember (which basically boiled down to 'think firey thoughts', or at least that's how Catra understood it) is not as easy as she made it sound. Which, she really should realize, makes sense; Glimmer was learning to use her runestone at the same time that she was learning to walk, whereas Catra only just got hers. And so far she's managed to make a few things light on fire (like the wheels of her bike and she has to admit to herself, at least, that that was extremely cool) but by and large it's not. Coming. Together. She's tried practicing at Obsidian, but that building is too full of people she can basically hear scheming through the walls, so she tried the Adora's abandoned dojo that she herself has used as a hideout and burned halfway to the ground, and even built a makeshift throne in it, but that hasn't worked.

Might as well try somewhere a bit more scenic, maybe? How about the ruins of the Edo Castle? Would anyone complain if she found a throne here and sat on it to do some thinking? It's not like Hordak minded when she tried sitting in his throne. (Of course that was when he was asleep and she didn't tell him.)

So she's walking around, disguised as Rachel Miller with her hands thrust in her pockets and her headphones on, listening to something loud and energizing ('Let Us Burn' by Within Temptation).

And there's a commotion going on over there but it's not Catra's problem. The humans can sort it out, she really doesn't need to bother herself with it. Who even cares. It's--

A barrier goes up.

Another barrier goes up.

Catra takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly as her illusion fades, and she yells as she swipes her claws across the nearest piece of something that looks expensive and irreplacable.

"FINE!!" she snarls, as she manifests the blade (in scabbard) of Powersend, holds the weapon at her side in her left hand, and stalks off towards where all the noise and barriers came from.

"Alright what the HELL is going--" She pauses, and quirks an eyebrow.

"Hey Rashmi. What's all this?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
It's moving. Okay, not entirely unexpected. It's talking! She's talking? She's talking! And Amy, below, is asking about their super-modes and explaining hers, and Takuto glances toward Sugata, then snickers and looks back at Amy as she gets up close to them. "What he said. Also, APPRIVOISE!!"

A slightly abbreviated but extremely dashing henshin sequence later, and the redheaded boy is wearing glowing, ghostly phantom mecha armor that's even got a steam plume coming from its fancy hat. Maboroshi no armor!! "Dazzling the stage, it's Ginga Bishounen Tauburn-- ahh, Sugata-kun," he shakes his head with a grin and gestures widely as everything goes very wrong very quickly and the barrier comes up within the barrier?!

Bright glowing phantasmal robot armor or not, when the crackling lightning of Nothingness surrounds them, the grin turns into a squeak, and abruptly mecha armor is hugging Sugata. "You take me to the nicest places!"

And then there's a warm but very fancy voice in the chat as Tauburn speaks up.

<< We always do, Terios-san, >>

"Well! Endurance. Man, how do I do endurance?" he asks, backing off of Sugata and putting his hand at the back of his head. "Well ranged I guess."

The Ginga Bishounen Tauburn opens his hands in front of him and yells out, "TAU GALAXY BEAM!!!!!!" and a giant target-seeking beam of zigzag light goes after the Prinzessin.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A bow is given to the awakening statue, and Veronica introduces herself. "Hello, just someone concerned for the Knight of the Shields whose appearance you mimic. I heard some about these occurrences from a foe turned friend. Would you-", she starts asking for information, only to stare quiet at Konigsende disposing of her before it starts.

Well then. Who turned up the difficulty? "Not very befitting of a trial", the Princess of Sarek reprimands Prinzessin Nichts. "Is this how little the position that was covered by House Steiner has come to mean? Aloisia was better than that."

The disruptive barrier is met with a grimace, but she does her best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling. When Catra comes in, Veronica's eyes turn towards her with interest. Is she actually the one? "Bold strategy kidnapping someone to save them. Are you Catra?"

<<Hi, Page Mage. I am back in action>>, Veronica looks up with a wave of her hand at a smile after searching for where the Device Mage was staying. <<New Jacket? That's cool>>, she observes. <<Worry not, I am well placed when it comes to protection. I will do my best to be on the look out for others too.>>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Sugata. "Really? But we're not, like, going to e diplomatic meeting with mahou who don't know us, we know who you are and if the statue mistakes you for a supervillain that... doesn't change anything."

    The statue awakens. It's... friendly? Amy hurries to explain: "The ritual has been corrupted you have seconds please tell us how to stop all this!"

    But the Queen is not corrupted.

    She is killed.

    Well, f***.

    Amy is stunned for a couple seconds.

    A barrier goes up.

    That's not their barrier.

    Amy doesn't feel so good.

    She conjures a couple of something like bolter pistols, spamming the Prinzessin with exploding rocket bullets to try and buy a few more seconds to think.

    Don't panic. Don't panic.

    She looks at the red gem on her arm piece, trying to judge how much time she has before the drain makes corruption completely consume it...

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki isn't a princess.

    (She'd like to be.)

Barriers go up, and the statue -- is apparently not what they're going to end up fighting today. "Argent Dawn? Shields. And let's see how many bullets we can manage without sacrificing flight or defense."

<"Affirmative, Master. Lancer's Shield. Aurora Lancer v1.8."">

She looks around, taking in those still active, looking to see who she recognizes. After a few moments' consideration, she takes to the sky, getting a higher vantage point where she can send her darts down at the foe.

<<Don't know how much firepower I'm going to be able to contribute,>> she sends to the telepathic chat. <<Signal me if anyone needs a pull-out and I'll handle that.>>

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"There's a difference between logic and emotion," Sugata says simply, "And the more of Samekh's power I draw, the more it will have his aura."

It's his energy after all, harnessed for the Ginga Kingu's purposes. And the energy and aura of the Galactic King Who Would Devour All Life As Fuel is... well.

Supervillain-y, really is the best way he can think to describe it.

For a moment, this looks like it will start differently than the others. The Trial Knight is of a friendly persuasion, welcoming them to the trial, clearly unaware of her pending corruption - ah, no, her impending murder. Her active murder.

"I try my best" he starts to say, and then is hugged by gleaming mecha armor, and snorts. "You're ridiculous."

Affectionate, though, even as the villain of the moment puts up the barrier, which feels distasteful to the extreme, draining, sucking, corrupting.

There's also more than one decidedly feline compatriot, but, he supposes it takes all sorts.

""Star Swordo - Diamante!"

The gleaming energy sword is drawn from his chest, and with the name of the game being endurance -

"Star Crash!"

The glowing sword rockets towards the Princess, intent on striking from behind.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
The golden gaze of Prinzessin Nichts stares silently up at Rashmi as she sets up the barrier. The barrier that ... seemed to be fighting the darkness. There's an almost fascinated look there, for a half-moment. She's still not extremely talkative it seems, but being integrated... along with the Sapphire... seems to have restored some vague sense of emotional response to the otherwise blank stare of Prinzessin Nichts.

A target-seeking beam of zig-zagging light goes after the Prinzessin, along with a series of rocket bullets, a magical sword, and darts flying towards her.

She does not move. She barely seems to acknowledge the oncoming attacks.

"Du hast etwas von mir."

<<FELD DES NICHTS.>>

And that burst of magic-erasing energy shoots out at her, right as the worst of the attacks strike, the last second before the Tau Galaxy Beam strikes, her shield is brought to bear to take the brunt of it. She slides back a few inches, smoke rising off of her and her blade. The only attack that strikes true-ish is the gleaming attack of Star Crash, which while its power is stripped and weakened -- the sword itself still strikes true, cutting into the back of Prinzessin Nichts' armor.

In response, she lifts her shield-bearing arm, palm outstretched as glowing black-red energy gathers above the battlefield.

"GEFALLENES ENDE."

And a twisted mockery of the attack used on her MULTIPLE times is unleashed. King's Pillar. A massive orbital beam of darkness falling upon the battlefield.

There is no escape.

There is only defense.

Meanwhile, as Amy looks at her Soul Gem...

A subtle cerulean glow seems to be surrounding it, and while not completely protecting it from it, slowing the corruption. Along with, though words are not spoken, gentle, weak, unbidden thoughts creep at the edges of her mind.

The Indomitable Sister never falls.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As the magic-eating dome washes out, Rashmi flits back and up, keeping the magic that holds her way up off the ground intact -- if corroded by the dark energy seeping in from the edges of the Barrier -- Rashmi's mind works furiously. How to open, how to open--

'Gefallenes Ende'

--defense it is.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >>
    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >>
    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >>

Positioning herself as close to the center of the rough grouping as possible, Rashmi raises both hands toward the sky-analogue, a trio of curved Shields disks manifesting in the air well above her position. The intent; to diffuse the oncoming blast as much as possible, and create the widest possible blast shadow in the doing. While the Pagemage is not looking forward to what leaks through after the final Shield breaks... she can at least be assured it won't be as much as would hammer them if *no* Shields...

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
<< TLDR That's Aloisia and she's possessed by an ancient relic full of dark energy and doesn't want to be! >> Takuto explains cheerfully through the link to Catra.

"Hi Amy-san!" calls Takuto's voice, getting louder noticeably as he gets closer; he saw her panic and he feels the drain and there's no escape and he knows that she'll die if she runs out of magic--

--nobody tell him--

--so he happens to be right close enough when the Prinzessin calls out KING'S PILLAR that he's rocketing himself up to umbrella Amy from the pillar of dark energy slamming them downward before she's even finished saying it.

"THAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU'VE SAID THAT I UNDERSTOOD!" he yells toward the possessed and merged body horror of an Aloisia. "SORRY!"

Then the redheaded boy briefly grips Amy, lightly, on the shoulder or upper arm or whatever depending on armor, and he says earnestly, "Let's combo. Robot Rocket Redhead Rarrmageddon."

<< Hello, Faust-san. Please take care of the shape for us, I have only one firearm. Firing my arm. >> says Tauburn mildly.

Takuto grins. "Yeah just think about it and we'll use my Drive for your attack. See if we can't! ROBOT ROCKET REDHEAD RARRMAGEDDON!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
They strike at the corrupted knight and Ginga Kingu grimaces when his sword strikes true but weakly, as the rest of the attacks are dissipated by the anti-magic wave.

The sword jabbed into the Prinzessin's back armor dissipates, the energy returning to Ginga Kingu, and there's a moment where he plans his next move -

Ah.

Well.

<<This is slightly ironic,>> the message comes through the telepathy with wry amusement, before the boy in the blue-and-gold military-esque uniform launches himself - not away from the attack, but positioning himself over the Princess of Sarek, who has among the least mobility of them all.

Obviously he's not going to dodge or avoid it. Logical or not, he's dropped this attack on Takuto entirely too many times to decide to avoid it when it's his turn to face his own bastardized attack.

His arms across in an X over his chest, not unlike Takuto's mark, as he ensures that the energy of the attack will strike him before it strikes the younger mahoujin.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
The Knight of Dawn is Not Happy to be in another drain zone. "Argent Dawn, make a note, new research topic: Defense against Eclipse-type zones and mana drain in general."

<"Noted, Master.">

And then she's putting everything she has into defense against the strike from above, pressed down to the ground as her flight spell yields power to the shield. "Hold on, hold on...."

At least the mana used to create the Lancer darts so far is 'sunk cost', so she fires them off at the corrupted 'Princess', loosing what attack she can under the circumstances.

Catra has posed:
Instead of answering her, Rashmi just puts up shields. Catra's ear flicks in irritation.

And then someone else speaks inside her brain and they are just way too cheerful for Catra's tastes, and her ear flicks in more irritation, because

And then a massive dark energy attack hits from on high.

As has been established the other day, people who use dark energy are much less susceptible to being attacked by dark energy, but Catra still finds herself forced down to all fours, gritting her teeth and growling as she weathers it, and when it eventually ends she is sizzling -- or perhaps smoldering would be a better term?

<< Aloisia is technically a coworker but we haven't met and -- You know what whatever, >> Catra mentally snaps down the link. Oh hey she can talk this time, neat.

<< And YES I'm Catra, who else would you think I'd be? I'm a CAT. Of course I'm Catra why is this complicated for people? >>

The feline rolls back into a crouch, and closes her eyes. << Think firey thoughts >> gets transmitted to everyone, probably by accident. But, something comes of it; when Catra opens her eyes they're the same colors but absolutely blazing with intensity, and the scabbard of her weapon erupts into flames. Though, that seems to be it for the moment.

"Hit me will you?! FINE THEN!" she snarls, as she basically just rushes Prinzessin Nichts; or at least, that's how she intends it to look, as she allows an illusory version of herself to rush forwards. She feints; and another illusion carries through, as the real Catra rushes off to the other side, running past the Prinzessin.

And in passing, she draws Powersend with a crisp, flame-wreathed 'Schwing' and slashes at the Prinzessin, not even bothering to turn around to see what effect her attack has.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The Thief raises an eyebrow at the outburst of the feline warrior. Is this a sensitive subject for her. <<Hello, then. I am Catra too>>, she replies, making a point of swishing her pale blonde tail to and fro.

There is a scowl of annoyance when the the mockery of the King's Pillar shows itself. Who has turned up the difficulty indeed. There is a consideration about getting through the attack by becoming ethereal, but that is way less of an option with the absurd area and power of the attack, and, she is certainly not one to leave others by themselves.

"Prismatic Wall!", the thief shouts, throwing a calling card at the King's Pillar, right below Rashmi's shields. The card expands into shimmering moonlight, a singular wall that brushes against the lower surface of the Page Mage's shield, night and day working in unison.

She frowns slightly when the Galactic King takes his place above her - 1 for 1 isn't much of a gain - and she well hopes that their joint efforts won't leave out much for him to take the brunt of.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The Ginga Bishounen is there! "Thanks!" And... it's not the first time, but being important enough for someone to block an attack for her does bring a slight smile to her face. "I don't understand that much Belkan, either!"

    And that comforting thought is there, and she thinks back,

    Then let us stand together
, sister!

    Takuto's got a plan. A combo attack? "But what is--"

    Tauburn explains: You provide the gun, we'll power it up. "Got it!" She nods, and thinks. The first thing that comes to mind is her adaptation of the Boom Gun, but that's not a rocket! The attack has rocket right in the name!

    Well you can't really go wrong with the obvious, can you?

    Missile racks appear on Amy's legs, arms, shoulders, and either side of her skirt armor.

    And, with the extra power provided, appear on Ginga Bishonen as well! Possibly with some (costume armor only! No tougher than mahou clothes) parts of Tauburn's armor becoming physical to brace them on! Each rack has 6-12 mini-missiles, so that's... a lot! The scale of them is maybe a little over an inch wide by a half-foot long, white with red or gold nosecones depending on who they fired from...

    ROBOT ROCKET REDHEAD RARRMAGEDDON!

    Amy grins as she shouts the attack name alongside the Ginga Bishounen, and dozens and dozens of mini-missiles launch out... for Amy's part, she can guide them to spread out and arc around and collapse in on Prinzessin Nichts from all angles, to impact in multiple waves so it's hard for defenses to get all of them -- and provide a variety of warheads: The Prinzessin never knows if a given missile is regular high explosive, is an anti-tank shaped charge, or will explode into incendiary powder! Who knows what Ginga Bishounen's magic adds!

    A moment ago she was so worried this might turn into a last stand, and now she's grinning, they're doing a combo attack how cool is that?!

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Luckily, Feld Des Nichts is not extremely long range, only pulsing out ~5-10 meters from Prinzessin Nichts herself, more of a defensive measure than an attacking one. A trio of shields brought forward to bear against the falling darkness, struggling against it. A struggle against the darkness... Crack... SHATTER

One goes down.

Then two.

Right before the third goes down, the Prismatic Wall of shimmering moonlight comes into life!

As the tail end of the falling darkness falls, the paired defenses go down, leaving much less of the massive blast to strike the defenders. Regardless, it was likely very unpleasant for those struck.

If there's one upside to the giant blast of dark energy that consumes the field -- is that it obscures vision to some degree, which means that Prinzessin Nichts is significantly less prepared for the counter-attacks, as the Lancer Darts fire in and strike true, the magic causing fragments of her armor to ~plink~ off here and there as they strike.

Meanwhile Catra's illusory self comes in to attack from the front, meeting the end of the lance of Konigsende, the spear stabbing through where the heart of the illusion would be -- only for it to fade away.

And the real Catra passes by, the crackling of dark energy and fire-wreathed swing at her back.

CRACKLE... SLICE! Prinzessin Nicht's armor is /hard/, the resistance, even with that fiery blade, is significant. And yet, the blade does eventually, after struggling, slice /through/ the armor, biting into flesh.

... A heartbeat and a pulse, and energy flows from the center of Aloisia's heart, and the deep cut begins to seal itself.

And then the Prinzessin swings around, her shield coming from the direction Catra was moving in. While there is magic to this blow, it is not an intoned spell. It is simply the contempt of Prinzessin Nichts.

As she attempts to shield bash her.

A perhaps inadvertently helpful action, should it contact, on the part of Prinzessin Nichts.

As Robot Rocket Redhead Rarrmagedeon comes in.

And... dozens of missiles come flying out. Twin magic that comes in, and...

"Feld des Nichts."

Another pulse of that magic-consuming energy goes out... the missiles strike it... some of them perhaps slowing, some of them even perhaps disappearing... and yet.

The vast majority of the barrage, even weakened.

Persists.

And blue-white fiery explosions consume the corrupted Knight, leaving her completely obscured as the explosions rock the ground she stands on, and as the smoke clears...

The sound of jets spooling up can be heard.

And Prinzessin Nichts shoots up into the air, towards the top of the barrier.

"Streuradierer."

And scattered dark beams shoot out over the battlefield, arcing towards MOST of the combatants below.

Rashmi is excluded.

"Splitterpunkt."

And Prinzessin Nichts shoots towards her, attempting to stab straight through her much like she had The Queen.

Likely intending to treat her much the same way.

Still. The attacks were working, it seems. Her armor was heavily damaged, even if it was regenerating with that unending ~pulse~ of Aloisia's heartbeat.

That is gradually getting weaker.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
While there is a *lot* to be grateful for, when that moonlight spreads out to reinforce her Solar magic... Rashmi has been here before. Sometimes, the best you can do is to turn something unsurvivable, into something less.

Unfortunately, 'less unsurvivable' still means 'a giant mass of Dark Energy all flowing *down* like a hell-ward torrent of ocean water.' And between it and the general, corrosive mana pervading the battlefield, Rashmi is not in a happy place. She is, in fact, driven toward the ground, her shiny new Barrier Jacket fraying at the edges, and upon impact actual shards fly off her armor, to disintegrate into twinkling golden light. "C'mon, Alo-chan," she croaks toward the sky, as the beams begin to fall. "You *know* it's us! Fight it! We'll be here when you win!"

The tip of Prinzessin's lance glimmers with a killing light, and just as she begins her downward trajectory to shatter Rashmi's heart...

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR FLASH >>

Rashmi glows bright yellow, then seems to transform entirely into a spark of magical energy, leaping skyward

    just

        past

            the Prinzessin's face--

--and reslving into solidity directly *above* the corrupted Knight. One hand is already moving, slipping some sort of bookmark-shaped thing from Nicomachea's inside cover, and slotting it into place to rest over the pages, as a Midchildan spell-seal spreads out wide under her feet.

    << *BONG!* >> << BIND INDEX: SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

A dozen Barrets appear around Rashmi, then *CRACK* into masses of crystalline ice. One after another they fire, are resummoned, and fire, two Barrets launching in the space of a second, every second. THere is no homing ability on these Barrets, no fancy tricks, save one; thanks to the Index module selected, each Barret in the spell's pattern comes pre-loaded with a simple Bind spell, meant to lock the target into place. Which would be a sneaky addition to any ranged attack she might have.

But in this configuarion, added to the hampering buildup of her ice Barrets... Rashmi is very, very clearly aiming to glue the Prinzessin in place with as much power as she can physically summon.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"YEAH!!!!" crows Ginga Bishounen Tauburn, beaming at Amy. "That was SO MANY ROCKETS! Oh sh--"

The Prinzessin's firing at them all but she's turning-- and Takuto can see it.

Without another word to Amy but half of a wry look on his way out, Takuto starts to rocket a zigzag path, himself, between and among the lancing dark beams. He yells, "Star Swordo! EMERAUDE! Star Swordo! SAPHIR!" and pulls, one after the other, two swords made out of vividly bright green and blue light directly from his own chest, as he flies.

And he's flying at it, he's pouring on the speed, he shouts with his whole chest, "GALACTIC CROSS SLASH!" and whips the two swords up in front of him, headed directly for--

YESSSSS. Takuto's eyes glitter as he veers slightly to alter his trajectory and come in on that armed arm with his swords, slashing a glittering X through the air--

Sugata Shindo has posed:
The corrupt King's Pillar doesn't knock Ginga Kingu from the air, but his henshin curls at the ends, the dark energy singing fabric, and his whole body does indeed sting, as he's forced lower to the ground, bruised but not broken.

He would mock Takuto, but for the four layers of shielding that dampened this effect, first.

Instead, as Takuto rockets himself forward, Sugata drives himself up higher into the air, and then forces open a square wall of energy in the air before them, shielding the positions of most of those under attack from those scattered dark beams.

"Kingu Bouncu Backu!"

It's the stupidest name possible, but it makes his partners smile, and in this time, this place, with this situation -

That boost is what they need.

When the dark beams strike the square wall of blue-white energy, the wall will distend back, like a sheet of rubber stretching under pressure - and then it snaps back into place, launching the energy towards the Prinzessin.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    THAT WAS SO COOL! And it looks like it wore down the Prinzessin's defenses. If only Amy could tell just which types of attacks were most efficient at that...

    Are those jet engines?

    Amy, apparently of similar mind to Takuto, dismisses her missile racks and takes off flying, the thrusters braced to her legs, arms, shoulders and skirt briefly shining blue-white from Tauburn's shared energy a moment ago. She weaves between those dark beams, barely, a couple grazing the edge of her armor and eating away at it.

    She flies in just after Ginga Bishounen, "Uhhh... Rocket Cross Pierce!"

    As Magical Rocket Girl Red flies up to the side of the Prinzessin, she tries to match the Ginga Bishonen's enthusiasm, punching the air between herself and Nichts, making an explosion and the actual attack, a piercing thin line of orange light that's gone in an instant, spattering a bit of red-hot metal however far into defenses it got, but Amy keeps going up, flying over the Prinzessin's head and punching the air again with her left hand, repeating the attack this time aimed vertically downwards! It's... sort of like a cross-slash... albeit with the two parts happening a half-second apart, maybe calling that is a bit of a stretch?

    Rashmi can recognize this as a scaled-down (and not enhanced by a pile of buffs) version of what Amy did to Socrates -- it's still scaled up from what she did to Koan, though, Amy's working on finding a middle ground where she doesn't knock herself flying from her own blasts!

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Well, that wasn't too bad. The Ginga Kingu barely seems hurt. She is appreciative of not having sustained that attack herself, but that was still reckless. "Much obliged", she nonetheless tips her hat to him before giving her consideration to Nichts.

After the sparkling remains of the solar and moonlit protections fall down, Veronica considers whether to try and get out of the beams of darkness the normal way or let them phase through her, since she still hasn't used that particular ability so far.

The Princess of Sarek has to be grateful it's not as devastating as the dark Pillar, because choosing to move through them nets her several nasty bruises, as she is not nearly fast enough to dodge them completely. It's no real problem, she is still standing.

Putting a hand under her hat, she comes out of it with a double-band ring, with a ruby mounted on top, and she slides it on her finger, pointing the handle of the cane at Prinzessin Nichts.

"After the prism of light falls, let's peek out at what remains", she winks to their adversary. "Seven-Hued Flame!" A rainbow stream of flame surges from the cane, headed right for Aloisia.

"Hey, Aloisia-san. Do you feel what is happening? Are you aware of us?", the Phantom Thief calls out. "Try to wake up! We can help, but your effort is important too!"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
The Knight of Dawn is treated to quite the show. Apparently Amy has *all the rockets*. "Okay that is hella cool, Red!" she calls. Combined with her unexpectedly effective danmaku, it's an impressive opening round.

The wide-area threat is gone now, replaced with more narrowly focussed attacks. Probably even more dangerous, but a lot easier to avoid. Dodging from side to side and spiraling around predicted beam paths, she keeps her distance from the foe, focusing on evasion while Argent Dawn builds up another volley of darts to launch at the dark princess.

She pauses briefly as she hears the catgirl with the cane speak up. "Is there someone trapped in there?" she asks, clearly out of touch with recent events regarding the princess.

Catra has posed:
The shield-bash does catch Catra in the back; she's already rushing past the Prinzessin, and she's fast, but it still catches just enough of her that it sends her stumbling to her knees. So there she is, feeling winded from the sudden impact to her back; it's not like Adora hasn't done that sort of thing to her before, mind you, but this is different. So while everyone else is busy unloading their attacks into what used to be Aloisia, Catra is just piecing it together, thinking about her next move.

Not that there's anything wrong with waiting until other people have done what they're gonna do. Especially since she prefers to fight up close, and someone else is busy firing off rockets. So there's that.

"FINE," she snarls; Powersend is already back in its scabbard, and she uses it as a lever to spring herself back up to her feet. She doesn't even turn around; behind her, both her illusions re-manifest t hemselves, each armed with a ghostly copy of powersend, still in its scabbard just like hers. And still she doesn't turn around, as her doubles -- on conjuring dark energy, the other fire -- wreath their swords in energy and dash forwards, each looping around to the other side of the Prinzessin, to draw their weapons and attack. The swords are illusions, but the fire and the dark energy flowing through the two blades are quite real. One goes high, slashing for the chest, while the other cuts low, looking to slice at the thighs; after their attacks they vanish, but reappear again, charging in from different angles to each slash for the opposite arm.

And then again, charging in and going for the back and the knees. And again, aiming for the sides.

"Everyonje always seems to think this is going to be so easy," the feline growls, still with her back turned to the Prinzessin. "But it always turns out, that I am so much stronger than anyone ever thought."

Now Catra turns around; and her doubles reappear, each firing a beam into the real feline's outstretched palm; the twin damage types combine into a boiling purple flame that she directs at the Prinzessin; and in its wake she at last dashes forwards herself, and Powersend comes out of its scabbard, the metal singing as she makes her own slash in passing; and then, with that finished she slows to a walk, returns blade to scabbard, and doens't look back.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
'C'mon Alo-chan! You know it's us! Fight it!'

"..."

"She is Nothing."

Is the response to that call-out from Rashmi towards Prinzessin Nichts. It's... not unkind, spoken with a neutral tone, that emptiness, that Nothingness that is Princess Nothing. "You shall join."

A flash of light going past the corrupted knight, as barrets crackle into existence.

...Such spells weren't something worth defending against, really. Too weak to be of note, and she could overcome the ice element easily enough.

Too bad prinzessin Nichts' knowledge was out of date.

As those Barrets shoot and many of them strike true, some simply shooting past her by virtue of a series of them being shot, the Prinzessin flying in a simple evasive pattern -- but they were striking. And the ice and binds were beginning to build up, until --

GALACTIC CROSS SLASH!

"Feld Des Nichts."

Used in place of a defensive spell, the Field was... likely not the best choice. But it's not like the Device and Knight had made much in the way of tactical choices. That brief ripple of antimagic weakening the oncoming attack, but not enough, and not enough to disrupt Tauburn's transformation.

And the blades cut their X into Prinzessin Nichts, and then her OWN beams come flying back at her. A familiar sensation from their first encounter as her own shots strike her, causing her to tumble through the air

And from the other side, Rocket Girl Red strikes from the other side, an explosion rocking her form as armor and even shield crack, parts of the shield shattering and falling down. Followed by a second strike that sends her rocketing down into the ground -- only to be pelted by more of those icy binding barrets.

Ice growing and gathering, as binds wrap around the Prinzessin on the ground, slowing her push from the ground back to her feet.

An effort that is delayed further as a rainbow stream of flame surges and consumes her, causing a twisted mixture of Aloisia's voice and Konigsende's to scream out in pain.

Pain that is punctuated by another volley of those Lancer Darts falling down on her, her breath cutting out as the audible pulse of Aloisia's heart grows faster... faster... stronger... and as she starts to stand up... Catra comes in. Holding the dark fire, looping around her... weapons drawn and swords slashing through her, cutting into her body, burning her... slicing at the back of her knees and forcing her to fall to one knee again... and then a burning purple flame engulfs her...

And that pulsing only grows stronger.

        Try to wake up.
            Wake up, Prinzessin.

Cerulean light and the Darkness briefly burn, fighting each other in the Prinzessin's Form.

The screaming is back, growing stronger, until...

<<ENOUGH.>>

The pulsing stops.

And is replaced with a ka-chunk.

And then another. As Prinzessin Nichts lifts her lance over her head, that sound of the jet engine growing louder again as she begins to shoot up into the sky. Energy growing stronger.

Stronger...

More unstable...

And the tip of the lance strikes the first Barrier.
And penetrates through.
Then the second, her own barrier...
And penetrates through.

And in the sky, what can only be described as a shining 'star' of darkness is growing at the tip of that lance.

The intonation that is spoken next echoes through all of Tokyo.

<<KONIGSENDE.>>

And that tiny star grows even tighter.

Before exploding outwards, darkness spreading rapidly through the city, too fast to escape.

And then...

Darkness Settles in.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
And everyone is left floating in a void of Nothing. There is no Light. There is no Darkness. There is simply Nothing. Attacks fly into the distance, unseen and doing seemingly nothing. One's voice catches in their throat.

A Nothing that begins to tear away at that which makes those caught within it's very being. Tearing away at their energy first.

And then their mind.

And just as all hope begins to fade.

Unbidden, a certain jewel Unseals itself. Flecks of Cerulean energy fall like snow in the Emptiness

And then, through the darkness, a tired, desperate, and yet reassuring voice screams out through the darkness.

"PLASMABOLZEN!"

To Be Continued.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
More winded than she would prefer to be, thanks to the corruptive field nibbling away at the edges of her energy output, Rashmi's shots fall off as the sparklestorm commences. "YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH," she roars in the face of the Prinzessin's stone-faced declaration. "ALO-CHAN WAS *NEVER* NOTHING, NO MATTER HOW HARD HER *DONOR* TRIED TO MAKE HER! SHE--"

All words trail off, as the enemy they face rockets upward, puncturing the bubble of her Barrier like the soap-bubble it truly was, then shattering the Belkan's own *much* harder field. "...Oh no," she whispers, because when something that nihilistic has had enough... what comes next will be awful.

Scrambling for her Area Index, she doesn't have the time to slot the module or give the command, as blackness washes outward. Engulfing the city.

Engulfing her friends.

Engulfing her.

There is nothing. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, and after a few moments spent futilely shouting to anyone who can hear her prove... nothing to say.

Not even her screaming over mental channels for her friends, her Device, Alo-chan, *anyone* brings any kind of response.

And still the Darkness eats away at her edges.

Soon they'll begin to fray.

Maybe snap.

Who can say?

... ..... .......... ..... ...

Sky-blue flakes tumbling, glowing, in the Void. How *beautiful,* to have something to see. Wait... but... does that mean--

'Plazmabolzen!'

"...Alo-chan?!"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Kagayaki no Takuto: he is bright, even if there's nothing else, even if there are no stars, no constellations, nothing but the dark Nothing, not even the afterimages of light or those weird swimmy inner-eye hallucinations or whatever they are when your eyes are closed in the dark, nothing nothing nothing--

Radiant Takuto, whose friends lifted him and his Drive to greater heights than ever before, whose armor is even made of stardust and sunbeams, whose cheer is infectious--

<< Remember what Natsuo said. Take heart. Keep your wits. >>

The Ginga Bishounen, whose partner Tauburn is older than civilization--

Whose partner Tauburn--

...

Tauburn, I can't see it anymore. Tauburn--? TAUBURN!!

The armor is gone and Takuto's uniform is partly destroyed and his hair is not as genki as usual oh dear and he's dashing at his eyes with his long gloved hand when PLAZMABOLZEN happens, and Takuto's hands open and close, and he wants to see Sugata and he wants to see Wako and he wants to go to school and he wants to end this, and together they have to end this, and he doesn't call out an attack.

He calls out his first piece of 'together':

"APPRIVOISE!!! Ginga Bishounen TAUBURN!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy lands after her attack. She doesn't want to keep burning magic on flight.

    "I didn't think it was going to be easy." Amy responds to Catra, matter-of-factly. "...Did you just do a triple-slash combo attack with yourself?! That was cool!"

    And now they're binding her! Yes! Amy starts sighting her artillery cannon, pondering which round type willl work best, when the Prinzessin breaks free and--

    Amy looks up. "Did she just fly out of the barrier?!"

    "Did she just break the--"

    And then there is Nothing. Amy tries to call out, to move, to work magic, but nothing.

    Is this... did her body just get destroyed? Is she just a soul gem now? How long has it been? How can she even count time?

    If she's just a soul gem...

    No, you don't know. You have to hang in there. Your friends will save you. Just. Wait. And stay calm.

    Is this also what happens to someone turned into a statue? Not like statues can see and hear. I don't think we should think about that.

    It's not a bad end. It's not a bad end. My friends will save me.

    My friends will save me.

    How long has it been?

    My friends will save me.

    ...

    ...

    ...

    This character cannot perform any more actions at this time. COMMAND?

> BE THE OTHER GUY.

    You are CLARTHAS ANODE. You are... well... Okay let's rewind a bit.

Moments ago:

    Clarthas Anode looks at a low-res, 1-bit-per-pixel video being holoprojected from the crystal on her gauntlet. "Is that a barrier? Move towards that. Sarida, can't you do anything about this video quality?"

    << Did you see eyes on that thing? I don't even know how this works, I'm a glove! >>

    Clarthas sighs. Then there's something moving out of the barrier. "Is that her? Get closer!"

    A dusk-thing one might charitably describe as a 'bird', although birds don't really have tails like that or that many spikes, or teeth, with a collar of glowing blue light around its neck, flies towards the barrier and looks up at the Prinzessin. Well. It moves its head up as if it were looking with eyes it does not seem to have.

    <<KONIGSENDE.>>

    ARE YOU SERIOUS.

    TWO villains almost end the world without me mattering.

    She can't even pull her heart out to not feel pissed, because she can't do anything, so she sulks in the darkness.

    Flecks of cerulean energy fall like snow. Heh. Guess 'Prinzessin Nichts' didn't quite manage it after all... But how many more times will it almost happen without me? How many more times before I never matter at all? I have to... I have to...

... Meanwhile ...

    "PLASMABOLZEN!"

    The words, and the energy like snow, distract Amanda from the thoughts she's lost in.

    "Aloisia?"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki was starting to get a little short of breath, her mana strained as she kept up her flight and her dart-conjuring under the ongoing drain. Still she presses on, keeping up the fight as much as she can.

It's not to be.

Darkness falls.

Her darts flake away and fade into nonexistence.

The Dark is Empty. Nothing.

She tries to speak, to call out. Nothing happens.

She tries to call up a blast of mana. Nothing happens.

<<Argent Dawn? You there?>>

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

*Something*. Flecks of sky-blue, tumbling, falling, through the void.

She stares, fascinated, into the emptiness.

Catra has posed:
Catra was pretty damn proud of herself.

Not that that's anything particularly new; she's a cat, afterall, even in her darkest moments she's generally able to maintain some level of proud of herself. Cats are basically just the best, afterall. It's part of being a cat.

But in particular, right now, that attack sequence she just uncorked on the Prinzessin was pretty damn good if she does say so, and at least to herself in her head, she does say so. Maybe she's going to have to choose between fire and dark magic at some point -- and she'd choose fire, if we're being honest here -- but so far she hasn't had to yet. Which might account for why she isn't feeling particulary good with either one of thAND WE'RE DONE TALKING ABOUT THAT.

Still. Catra's ears swivel around to listen behind her; she might not be watching as the Prinzessin rockets up into the sky, but she definitely wants to hear reactions, victory celebrations, or... something.

Or anything, actually.

Nor can she hear anything.

Everything is just...

Gone

Catra has spent so much time blotting it all out, finding the least crowded places, plugging her ears, closing her eyes, drowning it out, shutting it out, that all of a sudden the silence is the most defeaning thing that has ever happened to her. "Hello?" she asks, expecting to hear some response. Expecting to hear her own voice at least. "Hello?!" she repeats. "HELLO?? HELLO!!! HELLO!!?!?"

She pauses, sucking in her breath, "HELLLLLOOOOOO!?!?!?"

Trembling hands fumble for her phone, hurriedly unwinding the cord for her earbuds and jamming them roughly in her ears. She can't see what she's doing, and somehow that seems like less of an issue than not being able to hear; so what, maybe it's just dark in here, or maybe she's ignoring one problem so she can focus on another, as she fumbles with the device. She prods at it ineffectively, until her fingertips brush over the crack in the screen. Right. She takes a deep breath and exhales, using the crack to work out where the otherwise invisible buttons are, to start up some music. Drowning Pool, 'Let The Bodies Hit The Floor' was next. But there is nothing.

'Plazmabolzen!'

But Catra doesn't hear it, or see it.

She's got her eyes shut, and even though she can't hear herself, she's too busy screaming to hear anything else.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Rashmi has defense of the victim handled and Sugata is preparing to summon King's Pillar, to bring down hell upon the enemy and make sure that she's defeated so that they can handle the rest - if they can defeat her, they can contain her, bring her to Wako, and let her drown the darkness with purification.

They just have to defeat the enemy -

Ah. Apparently you don't have to understand Belkan, to understand that.

As Prinzessin Nichts ascends, weapon pointed at the barrier, Ginga Kingu swears under his breath and launches himself up into the air, energy gathering -

The barrier breaks.

Energy focusing, bright blue-white light above the corrupt barrier -

"King's -"

The barrier breaks -

Nothing.

The whole world is nothing, emptiness, the blackness. Everything is dissipating, energy flaking away, henshin unspooling like thread, will, mind, focus, all of it dampening, falling away -

"None should have devoured this world's energy but me-"

The last thing he hears cannot be Samekh's voi-

Nothing.
Ginga Kinguothing.

There's truly nothing, in existence. Darkness that doesn't even claw but merely is.

A light returns. Flecks of light, even, tiny and fragile, and there is no need to worry about supervillain's now. Takuto is here, and Wako is waiting, and there is a world to see and experience with them, a world where he will not be another Sugata Shindo, reduced to nothing to contain ancient power -

"APPRIVOISE! GINGA KINGU SAMEKH!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Yeah, she is a Device Mage from Obsidian that had trouble escaping from someone she didn't enjoy working for", Veronica gives Yuki the extremely simplified version of the events. Not that there is much she can say about it.

She doesn't rejoice when she hears that pained screams, but all they can do is persist and hope that their efforts will get a reply. There is always a chance, no matter what, and she has just come back from two people turning against the purpose they were born for, so her optimism is at an all-time high.

But then there is that field of darkness, that all-encompassing void that cuts out all answers, all that is, swallowing the very city, and leaving them to stumble around.

It's impossible to see, but the Prinzessin Nichts has to be somewhere around her, and her thoughts urge her to keep looking. Don't stop moving for any reason, she tells herself, and she keeps her cane close to herself. Waiting for a moment.

A smile shows up on her face, even if nothing else is visible, when something does answer and breaks through this zone of nothingness.